


oh how the fire lights up your eyes

by alchemyfeline



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (i think), Canon Compliant, M/M, Not Beta Read, Post-Episode: s03e14-15 The Boiling Rock, Pre-Relationship, Western Air Temple, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, tell me if im using tags incorrectly oof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25616182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemyfeline/pseuds/alchemyfeline
Summary: everyone else went to sleep after the escape from the boiling rock except for zuko and sokka.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 239





	oh how the fire lights up your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> im physically incapable of making titles that arent ridiculously cheesy sorry. anyway constructive criticism would be appreciated, i feel like the pacing is kind of rushed in this but idk (also i do NOT know how to write summaries whoops.)  
> thinking about writing another post canon fic next ? either that or an au. we'll see ig

The night was quiet, the only sound being that of the crackling fire in front of them and the distant sounds of cricket-owls in the woods above the air temples. 

Sokka prodded at the fire with a stick. Zuko’s gaze followed his movements, and he couldn’t help but admire the way the light from the flames cast a gentle gold-orange glow over his skin. 

His eyes slowly made their way up to his hair, taking note of how nice his wolf-tail was (while vaguely wondering what it would look like down) before he found his gaze rested on Sokka’s eyes. Spirits, his eyes were pretty- a bright blue, sparkling with the reflected light of the fire. He could just stare into them forever- he wondered if he looked close enough if he could see the stars reflected in them.

Sokka’s eyes met his as he looked up and he gave Zuko a small smile. Zuko flushed, quickly looking down at the ground. He sincerely hoped that Sokka hadn’t realized how long he had been staring; if he had, Zuko was pretty sure he would have burst into flames right then and there.

“Hey. Can I sit by you?” Sokka asked, voice quieter than usual so as to not wake the others.

Zuko shrugged, still keen on looking away from him. “Sure.”

“Cool.” Sokka stood up, stretching briefly before walking around the fire and taking a seat maybe a few inches away from the firebender. It was quiet again for a few moments, and Zuko was starting to feel a little awkward with their proximity before the other boy said, “I just wanted to say, Zuko. Thank you for helping me rescue my dad. And Suki. I really can’t put into words how much it means to me.”

Zuko spared him a glance, and he cleared his throat before replying, “I’m… glad I could help, Sokka. I mean, it’s the least I could do, after…” he waved his hand vaguely, “you know, everything.”

“Oh, quit it,” Sokka replied, elbowing him lightly with a smile, “You helped me save my dad from a _top security Fire Nation prison._ The stuff you’ve done in the past was, well, in the past. It’s water under the bridge.”

Zuko couldn’t help but give him a small, kind of awkward smile in return. “I guess,” He mumbled, fidgeting with his hands.

Sokka’s face dropped as he looked at Zuko’s guilty expression, and he shifted to face him rather than the fire. He gently took one of the other teen’s hands in his and looked him in the eye, saying in a soft voice, “Hey, if it helps, I forgive you. I’m not going to downplay the things you’ve done. They were bad. But… people can change. You don’t have to keep feeling bad about who you used to be, because that’s not you anymore.”

Zuko still looked unconvinced, and Sokka squeezed his hand briefly, hoping it would do something to comfort him. He noticed the firebender look down at their hands and relax a little bit.

“I don’t know,” Zuko murmured, his expression of remorse returning, “but if you can trust me, then… well, I guess I’d trust your judgment over mine.”

Sokka grinned at him. “That’s the spirit, bud.”

They shifted into a lapse of slightly more comfortable silence, and neither of them made a move to pull their hand away. It was nice, Sokka thought to himself. They should hold hands more often.

Sokka found himself leaning his head on Zuko’s shoulder. He still seemed a little nervous, he noted, but he didn’t try to move away. The firebender leaned into the contact, shifting a little so their knees were touching. Sokka felt his face heat up a bit but decided to chalk it up to their proximity to the fire. Yeah. No other reason.

Zuko wasn’t sure how long it was until Sokka dozed off, only noticing he had fallen asleep when he heard a quiet snore come from the other boy. He’s kind of cute, the firebender thought for a moment, though he discarded the thought as quickly as it came.

It was a few more minutes, and Zuko was getting fidgety. He couldn’t let Sokka lean against him the whole night, he would never fall asleep in this position. (And that was the whole reason, it absolutely had nothing to do with the fact that his heart kind of felt like it was doing mini backflips in his chest. Nope. Definitely not.)

Zuko lightly nudged the boy asleep on his shoulder. Sokka shifted, cuddling closer to him, but didn’t wake up, and dear Agni, his whole face must’ve been red from embarrassment. 

The firebender nudged again him with considerably less gentleness, and Sokka stirred, opening his eyes.

He blinked at Zuko a couple of times, before mumbling, “Oh. I guess I kind of… nodded off. Haha. Sorry about that.” He moved his head, though the rest of him stayed in place. He rubbed his eyes.

“Mm… I should get to sleep, probably.” He yawned before pulling Zuko into a tight, but not quite uncomfortable hug. Zuko felt himself tense, not having expected the embrace, but after a few moments, he started to relax a little, and he hugged the boy back. 

“Thank you, Zuko. For everything you did today. I couldn’t have done it without you,” Sokka murmured. The firebender blushed again, and he mumbled a soft, “No problem,” in response, not having it in him to disagree again.

Sokka pulled away after a while, giving him a sleepy smile as he stood up. The other felt a smile cross his face in return.

As the nonbender started walking away, he paused briefly, turning to look at Zuko. “You should get some sleep, too.” He hesitated briefly as if he were going to say more, but he seemed to decide against it as he walked over to his sleeping bag.

“Right. Sleep.” Zuko mumbled under his breath as he turned back to the fire. He didn’t really want to face his guilt regarding how he left Mai or deal with any potential nightmares, so he just sat by the fire. 

He wondered if it was normal to feel butterflies in his stomach every time he looked at Sokka.


End file.
